Monumental effort by community groups to keep litter off Newcastle's streets

Coun. Nick Kemp, with sacks of rubbish at Greys Monument, in Newcastle

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The scale of a monumental effort to keep Newcastle clean was illustrated against the backdrop of a city landmark.

It has been calculated that over the past five months a total of 2,305 household sized bin bags of litter have been collected from the streets of Newcastle by community groups and volunteer organisations. This is in addition to the city council’s other waste collection services.

If all of the bin bags were individually stacked up it would be the equivalent of 28.80 Grey’s Monuments, 12.39 Statues of Liberty and 3.82 Eiffel Towers.

The clean-up operations are part of the council’s Keep it Clean environment campaign, which was launched in January.

The campaign is aimed at encouraging behavioural change amongst people who litter, fly-tip and don’t pick up after their dogs in Newcastle.

Keep it Clean’s Community Clean-Up was launched in March and is aimed at encouraging schools and community groups to take part in events in their local area.

More than 60 community groups and organisations are now involved and have helped fill the 2,305 bin bags, along with community payback schemes and NE1 Ltd, which is funded by city centre businesses.

NE1’s first project was to establish a team of uniformed street rangers and also a rapid response Clean Team because of the concerns about cleanliness raised by business.

Nick Kemp, city council cabinet member for neighbourhoods and regulatory services, said: “We are extremely proud of Newcastle and believe that a tidy litter free city is something we should all want.

“The council takes the issue of littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling very seriously as it not only puts pressure onto our resources but it can pose a significant health risk to residents.

“As a council we will look to penalise those offenders through prosecution, fixed penalties, and seizing tippers’ vehicles. Those people who discard rubbish through their lazy and unthoughtful actions are damaging our city instead of everyone taking pride in our community.

“We ask that people think and behave considerately before fly-tipping and dropping litter. We have to make difficult decisions in running the council and making choices especially as we are facing a number of serious financial challenges.

“We strongly urge people to think about their actions and the longer lasting results to the local community from when they drop litter and rubbish on to the streets.”

Coun. Nick Kemp, with sacks of rubbish at Greys Monument, in Newcastle

The next instalment of a Keep it Clean advertising campaign appear in littering hotspots across the city next week.